Page 103 of To Die For

“Judge Mehan adjourned the hearing today so she could consider Betsy’s wanting you to be her guardian. She’ll be doing a deeper dive into your background. But I may be able to pull some strings in theinterim and speed up the process.” Saxby slipped out her phone and hurried off.

Odom said, “Hey, Travis, can I talk to you for a minute? In private?” she added, glancing at Walker.

She led him over to a corner, where she took a sealed envelope out of her pocket and handed it to him.

“What’s this?” asked Devine.

“Some old lady came up to me and asked me to give it to you.”

“What? What old lady?” he said sharply, looking all around.

“I don’t know her. Just some lady.”

“What did she look like?”

“Like a really old lady.”

“How old is that?” Devine asked.

“Really, really old. Like she must’ve been at least fifty or somethin’.”

“Okay, where did you see her?”

“When I was headin’ outside.”

“What did she say?”

“She knew who I was and asked me to give you this. Said it was really important,” Odom added.

“Where is she now?”

“I don’t know. She walked off right after she gave me the envelope.”

Devine unsealed the envelope and took out the folded paper inside.

He read the contents three times through.

Meet me tonight at the Gum Wall, eleven sharp. Come alone. I see everything, so you involve the police, I will never show and you will be really sorry. I know things about your case that you need to know too. Some of it might be mutually beneficial. A win-win if you don’t try to screw me. And you might get to live a little longer too. And the same goes for me.

The Girl on the Train

“Isit important?” asked Odom.

Devine looked at her. “Yeah, it is.”

CHAPTER

48

SAXBY CAME BACK AND TOLDDevine that things were on a fast track for him to be named an emergency guardian for Betsy Odom. They expected Mehan to issue the order quickly, and without allowing Danny Glass a chance to respond.

“I spoke with Nancy Fine and she’s helping with this. But your guardianship won’t be for long,” added Saxby cautiously. Odom was out of earshot sitting on a bench with an armed Walker right next to her. “And now with the RICO case gone, Glass is still the betting favorite to get Betsy in the end.”

Saxby had then taken Odom back to the hotel while Walker had driven Devine back to her house and made them lunch.

“I’m sorry for taking up your day off with all this,” he said as he picked at his salad.

“Are you kidding? It was fascinating. But Betsy has been through so much, the poor kid.”

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